Sliding door suspension device



March 2, 1954 w, KNIGHT 2,670,496

SLIDING DOOR SUSPENSION DEVICE Filed Dec. 5, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l EQVWA/fl (1/. KAI/6W7,

INVENTOR.

Han "M QTTOENEV March 2, 1954 w, KN|GHT 2,670,496

SLIDING DOOR SUSPENSION DEVICE Filed Dec. 5, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 II & Illlllllmnllll ZQVMOND (0- KV/G'HZ,

\ '60. L IN VEN TOR.

HTTOQNEV Patented Mar. 2, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SLIDING noon SUSPENSION DEVICE Raymond W. Knight, Bakersfield, Calif., assignor to G. C. Cannon and Gerald S. Cannon, doing business as Wingland Lumber 00., Bakersfield,-

This invention relates to building hardware employed in hanging sliding doors.

The increasing use of sliding doors in present day residence construction has accented the need for smoother operation and lower installation and maintenance costs for this type of door.

It is an object of the present invention to provide hardware for sliding doors which will meet this need.

A further object is to provide sliding door hardware which will have a low labor cost of installation and will incorporate means operable by an unskilled person after the door is installed to plumb the door with the jamb.

The manner of accomplishing the foregoing objects, as well as further objects and advantages will be made manifest in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a regular sliding door which is suspended by sliding door hardware incorporating the present invention. portions of the door and surrounding wall structure being broken away to illustrate parts otherwise covered up.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and illustrating the manner in which a hanger of the invention is locked in place in a carrier thereof following completion of the installation of said sliding door with this suspended on said hardware and the latter traveling on an overhead track.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2 and illustrating said door suspended on two hardware assemblies, one of which on the inner upper corner of the door, employs a non-adjustable hanger while the other assembly located at the outer upper corner of the door, employs a vertically adjustable hanger. I

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken on the line d4 of Fig. 3 and by use of broken lines illustrates the manner of connecting the hanger on the inner upper corner of said door, with its corresponding carrier, so that when the door is rotated into its final installed alignment with said track, said hanger and carrier automatically interlock.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 3 and illustrates the manner in which the hanger on the assembly at the outer upper corner of the door is manually turned into interlocking relation with the carrier associated therewith and then looked in said interlocking relation, v

2 Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 and taken on the same plane illustrating the manner in which the connection is made between the hanger at the outer edge of the door and the carrier associated therewith when installing the door.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating a pair of wardrobe type sliding doors mounted in overlapping relation by use of a double overhead track and a modified form of the sliding door hardware of this invention.

Referring specifically to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a wall H), having a door opening ll, along one edge of which is provided a door jamb i2, and the opposite edge 13 of which has a vertical door pocket l4 opening therefrom which extends deeply to the left in the wall it} whereby it is adapted to entirely receive a door l5 when said door is mounted by the use of the present invention in the opening II and then shifted to the left out of said opening. The pocket It extends above the upper edge l6 of the door opening 'H and along said upper edge and has an upper face,

I! on which is mounted an overhead track l8.

A suitable molding 25 is applied to the wall l0 about the opening II after the door l5 has been installed therein as will presently be described,

in order to finish the opening and make a close fit between all the edges of the wall opening i l and the door 15 when the latter is disposed within,

said opening.

In mounting the door l5 so as to be slidably suspended on the overhead track l8, two units 26 and 21 of the sliding door hardware of my invention are employed. The unit 26 includes a carrier assembly 28 and a hanger assembly 29. The carrier assembly 28 comprises a carrier member 30 (Fig. 2), which is preferably stamped from sheet metal and shaped like an inverted question mark so as to include an upright element 3|, on which a pair of wheels 32 are mountedfor rotation on horizontal axes, and a horizontal catch plate 35 which is bent inwardly beneath the wheels 32 from the lower end of the upright element 3|.

Formed in the catch plate 35 is an openended slot 36 which is keyhole shaped to include of the wheels 32, which is normal to the axes of" rotation of these. 7

The hanger assembly 29 includes an angular In other words, the longitudinal bracket 45 having a vertical member 46, which is apertured for receiving screws ll for securing said bracket to the door |5. and a horizontal upper member 48. The member 48 is provided with a hole 49 through which a lower end portion 59 of reduced diameter of a hanger stem is extended, said stem being rigidly united with the bracket 45 by swedging the lower end of portion 55 as shown in Fig. 3. The stem 5| is cylindrical and has flattened faces 55 and is provided at its upper end with a fiat head 55.

As shown in Fig. 4 the stem 5| lies with its faces 55 disposed transversely with respect to the bracket 55 and to the door |5. when said bracket is applied to said door. This stem is dimensioned so as to slide readily edgewise through the restricted mouth 38 of the slot 35 in the catch,

plate 35 when the stem 5| is aligned with said mouth as shown in broken lines in Fig. 4. When stem 5| is thus admitted into the circular hole 31 of slot 36, the door can be rotated, said stem turning with said door and being placed crosswise in said hole when said door is aligned with wall 0. The head 55 now resting on the catch plate 35 causes the upper left corner of the door iii to be supported by the unit 25 on the overhead track H3.

The unit 2'1 of the sliding door hardware of this invention is applied to the right hand upper corner of the door |5 in a similar manner to that in which unit 26is applied to the upper left hand corner of the door and cooperates with the unit 26 to suspend said door on the overhead track l8 as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Unit 21 includes a carrier assembly 55 and hanger assembly 5 The carrier assembly Ellis a. substantial duplicate of the carrier assembly 28 and includes a carrier member 62, wheels 53 rotatably mounted thereon to travel on track i8, and a catch plate 64, which is bent horizontally beneath the wheels 33 from the lower edge of member 52 and is located at the right hand end of the carrier assembly 55 whereas, the catch plate 35 is located at the left hand end of the carrier assembly 28.

Catch plate 64 has a keyhole shaped slot 66 formed therein as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. This slot includes a circular hole 6! having a restricted mouth :68 connecting said hole with the left hand edge of the catch plate 64.

The hanger assembly 6| includes rectangular bracket i5 including vertical and horizontal members i5 and il which fit around the upper right corner of the door |5, the member 16 being preferably counter-sunk in the vertical adjacent edge of said door and being apertured to receive screws 18 for securing the bracket to the door. The member H is provided with a tapped aperture 80 in which a threaded stem 8|, having a flat head 82, screws downwardly. A lock nut 83 is screwed onto the stem 8! for use in looking the stem against rotation relative to the bracket 75 or to release the stem so that it might be screwed in the aperture 5!! to extend the stem 8| varying distances into a hole 84 provided in the door 55.

The stem 8| has opposed flattened faces 85 which do not extend the full length of the stem but which leave an unfiattened end section 58 of the stem 8| for making a stronger connection between the stem 8| and the bracket member 11 when the stem end portion 86 is screwed into and locked within the threaded aperture 88 and.

the nut 83.

The stem in the zone of the flattened faces is reduced in thickness to where this stem may be received edgewise through the restricted mouth.-

68 of the keyhole 61. With the nut 83 released.

-flat faces 85 0f the stem 8|.

4 the stem 8| may now be rotated crosswise in the hole 61 (Figs. 3 and 5) and locked in that position by tightening the nut 83 thus permanently assembling the carrier assembly as and hanger 6| ofthe unit 21.

Besides olfering the opportunity to complete the assembly of the door 5 with the units 25 and 21 as above described, the unit 2'? provides a means for adjusting the spacing between the upper right hand corner of door l5 and the overhead track It so as to plumb this door with the jamb l2. Rotation of stem 8| or nut 53 in assembling or adjusting unit 27 is preferably effected by the provision of an end wrench 95 having wrench ends 9| and 92, the first of which fits the nut 83 and the second of which fits the The manner of using this wrench will be explained in connection with the description to follow of the preferable procedure for hanging the door i5 by use of the sliding door hardware of the present invention.

After the wall Iii has been prepared with the opening H and internal wall pocket l4 extending to the left and upwardly from the opening II, the overhead track i8 is secured to the wall material forming the upper face ll of said pocket and the carrier assemblies 25 and 5B are set in place with the wheels 32 and 53 restin on the track Ill, and with these assemblies related substantially as shown in Fig. 3.

The hanger assemblies 29 and 6| are nowapplied to the upper left and upper right cornersof the door i5 as shown in Fig. 3 and with these hanger assemblies still unassociated with the carrier assemblies 25 and 66. The door i5 is then turned at right angles to the plane of the wall H) as shown in broken lines in Fig, 4. With the door thus positioned and with the stem 5| disposed in the same longitudinal plane with the slot 36, the door |5 is elevated so that the head 56 of the stem 5| is above the level of the catch plate 35 whereupon the carrier assembly 28 is rolled along the track l8 to receive the stem 5| edgewise through the restricted mouth 38 of the slot 36. and into the circular hole 3? of said slot. The door I5 is now lowered until the head engages the catch plate 35 whereby the door is supported on the track I8 by its upper left:

corner through the hardware. unit 26. The door is now rotated into alignment with the wall l8,

which, of course, rotates the stem 5| to a cross-.

wise position in the hole 31 of the slot 35 thereby uniting the hanger assembly .29 with the carrier assembly 28 and preventing their disassembly except by reversal of the rotation just described,

By the application of the wrench end 9| to the lock nut 83 the latter may be loosened on the stem BI and this stem may then be turned by the use of the wrench end 92 as shown in Fig. 6 to align said stem with the plane of the door |5. The right hand portion of the door i5 is now lifted, while allowing the door to remain in alignment, with wall |5, so as to bring the head 82 of the stem. 8| abov the level of the catch plate 64 of the carrier assembly 58. Stem Bl will now be related to the slot 58 of the carrier assembly 55 as shown in Fig. 6. The carrier assembly is now rolled along the track |8 to cause the stem 8| to be received edgewise through the restricted mouth 58 of the slot 55 and into the circular hole Bl of said slot.

The right hand portion of the door I5 is now lowered until the door is entirely supported by the slidable door hardware units 25 and 2?.

Before locking the carrier assembly 60 and thehanger assembly 6I together it is desirable to.

adjust the vertical spacing between the upper right hand corner of the door I5 and the track I8 so that when the door I5 is in closed position as shown in Fig. 1 the right hand edge 95 of the door I5 lies flat against the right hand jamb edge I2 of the door opening II. To effect this adjustment the wrench end 02 is applied to the fiat faces 85 of the stem 8| as shown in Fig. 5 and this stem rotated so as to screw it upwardly or downwardly through the hole 80 in the bracket I5. This adjustment changes the angular relation between the door jamb i2 and the door edge 95 and is concluded at the point where the stem 8| is disposed cross-wise in the notch 66 and where the nearest possible approach to a perfect adjustment between said jamb'and said door edge has been accomplished with the stem so disposed.

The wrench end 9| is now applied to the lock nut 83 and the latter turned down tightly against the horizontal member I! of the bracket I5 thereby locking stem 8I in its crosswise position in the slot 66 which permanently assembles the carrier assembly 50 and hanger assembly BI in interlocking relation. With the door thus hung and adjusted, and the permanent assembly of the sliding door hardware of the invention effected, the molding 25 is completed about the wall opening II so as to form a reasonably snug fit between said molding and said door when the latter is closed.

Suitable hardware is commonly applied to sliding doors to provide a hand-hold for sliding such doors between their retracted and extended positions and it is to be understood that the omission of any disclosure of such hand-hold hardware herein is merely because this has nothing to do with the invention herein dis-closed.

To prevent the door I5 engaging the molding 25 on opposite sides of the edge I3 of the wall opening II, this door may have a channel 56 formed upwardly in the lower edge 91 thereof. A pin 99 may also be provided having screw threads I which are screwed into the floor IOI near the edge I3 of the wall opening I I, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so that pin 99 is received in the channel 95 and is always looked within said channel to guide the door and retain this in the vertical plane containing the wheels 32 and 63 where it properly belongs.

The sliding door hardware of this invention is adapted for use in supporting lighter doors than those employed for controlling openings between rooms, such, for instance, as the overlapping sliding doors in common use in built-in wardrobes. Fig. 7 illustrates a pair of wardrode sliding doors H0 and III which are supported on an overhead double track I I2, providing paralle1 tracks H3 and H4, by sliding door hardware units H and H6. These units are constructed and operate on identically the same principles as the units 26 and 21 described hereinbefore and will therefore be only briefly described.

Unit II5 includes a carrier assembly I20 and a hanger assembly I2I. The carrier assembly I20 includes a carrier member I22 rotatably mounting a single wheel I23, and having a catch plate I24 in which is formed a keyhole shaped slot I25. The hanger assembly I2I includes a plate I30, apertured to receive screws I3I for securing the same to the upper edge of door IIO. United with plate I30 and extending upwardly 6 therefrom is a flattened stem I32 with a head'I30.--

The unit H6 includes a carrier assembly I40 and a hanger assembly I4I, the former having a carrier member I42 rotatably mounting a wheel 1 I43 and having a catch plate I44, with a keyhole slot (not shown) which is similar to the keyholeslots 36, 56 and I25. The hanger assembly I4I includes a plate I50 which has a threaded hole and is alsoapertured to receive screws I5I for securing said plate to the upper edge of the door III, the latter having a. recess (not shown) dis posed below the threaded hole in the plate I50- which threadedly receives the lower end of a flattened threaded stem I55 having a head I56 and carrying a lock nut I5I.

Each of the doors H0 and III is equipped with a pair of the suspension units H5 and I I6, these units being located near opposite upper corners of each door. As can readily be seen from the inspection of Fig. 7, the structures of unit'II5 and I I0 so nearly correspond respectively to the structures of the units 25 and 21, that the hanging doors H0 and III on the units H5 and H6 is accomplished by identically the same procedure as above described for hanging door I5 on units 25 and 21.

The doors I I0 and I i I are provided with channels I60 formed upwardly in their lower edges, pins IIiI being mounted in the sill I62 beneath the door He and -I II which pins extend into the channels I50 and maintain the doors I I0 and II I in vertical alignment with their respective tracks H3 and H4 as these doors are rolled back and forth on said tracks.

The claims are:

1. In a device providing a wheeled suspension for a sliding door from an overhead track confined in a longitudinal recess formed upwardly in the lintel of a doorway, the combination of: a carrier including an angular metal strap having a normally upright portion and a normally horizontal catch plate extending from the lower edge of said upright portion and wheel means mounted on said upright portion for travelling on a track so that said catch plate is disposed beneath said wheel means and track, there being a slot provided in said catch plate and opening from an edge thereof with a restricted mouth; a hanger including a bracket which is secured, when in use, to the upper edge of a door, a stem mounted on said bracket and extending vertically upward therefrom, and a head formed integrally with said stem at the upper extremity thereof, 7

said stem having its opposite sides flattened to permit said stem to be inserted edgewise through the restricted mouth of said slot after which said stem is turned in said slot to broadside relationship with said restricted mouth, thereby preventing said stem being withdrawn from said slot through said restricted mouth, said head preventing withdrawal downwardly of said stem from said slot; and means holding said stem against rotation relative to said bracket so as to be in crosswise relation with said restricted mouth when said door is disposed in vertical alignment with said wheel means.

2. A combination as in claim 1 in which said stem is externally threaded and in which said bracket has a tapped hole into which said stem is screwed, said means for holding said stem against rotation relative to said bracket comprising a lock nut on said stem, which may be tightened against said bracket to fix said stem against rotation relative to said bracket and in crosswise relation with said mouth but which,

when loosened, permits adjustment oi," the cites-- tive length, of said stem by rotation of the latter or the; turning of said stem edgewise to said mouth for disengaging said hanger from said carrier, said flattening of said stem adapting the same to be engagedby a wrench to rotate said stem both to vertically adjust said bracket and door relative to said carrier, and, upon concluding said adjustment, to set said stem cross-wise to said mouth to prevent the disassembly of. said carrier and said hanger, or edgewise to said mouth to facilitate the assembly or disassembly of said carrier and said hanger.

3- A combination as in claim 1 in which said stem is permanently fixed on said bracket so that when said door is in the same vertical plane with said. track and wheel means, said stem is disposed crosswise relative tosaid restricted mouth whereby said door must be approximately at right angles to said plane to present, said stem 20 edgewise to said restricted mouth and allow said stem to be inserted into said slot, it being neces-i sary then to rotate said d001- about saidistemand into said plane to present said stem crosswise to said restricted mouth and prevent withdrawal or said stem from said slot.

RAYMOND W. KNIGHT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS.

Number Name Date 542,45? Arndt July 9, 1895 1,155,390 Willard Oct. 5, 1915 1,568,270 Cross Jan. 5, 1926 2,403,993 Nyhus July 16, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 251,328 Switzerland July 16, 1948 

